‘Monster Pitcher’ Shim Jun-seok (19) is expected to step on the major league stage soon. A contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates is in the making. The key is the down payment.
On the 12th (hereinafter Korean time), Rob Beertempel, a reporter in Pittsburgh for the North American sports media ‘The Athletic’, answered questions from readers and mailbag Q&A. There were also questions from Pittsburgh fans about the recruitment of Shim Jun-seok.
Citing domestic reports, Bier Tempel reporter said, “There is a possibility that the contract between Pittsburgh and Shim Jun-seok will be announced next week. ranked 10th. His fastball ranges from 95 mph (153 km) to a high of 100 mph (161 km). He can throw a curveball, slider and changeup. He will turn 19 this coming April,” he explained.
He even mentioned the name of Park Chan-ho (50), a pioneer of Korean big leaguers, saying, “I am being compared to Park Chan-ho, who finished his major league career in Pittsburgh in 2010,” raising expectations. Park Chan-ho entered the major league stage in 1994 with the Los Angeles Dodgers with a contract of 1.2 million dollars. He recorded 124 wins and 98 losses with a 4.36 earned run average in 436 games (287 starts) in 17 seasons with the Dodgers, Texas, San Diego, New York Mets, Philadelphia, New York Yankees, and Pittsburgh. He holds the record for the most wins by an Asian pitcher in the Major League, which has not yet been broken. Park Chan-ho was also a fire bowler who threw 100 mph fastballs during his active career.
The key now is the down payment. The down payment is a measure of expectations for players entering the major leagues and is proportional to expectations. Normally, if you receive a contract payment of more than $ 1 million, the club manages you as a top-notch prospect. Even so, stepping on the major league stage is not easy.
In particular, after the creation of the contract bonus pool for international amateur players, the distribution of down payment according to recruited players has become important. Pittsburgh has a rich bonus pool. With a bonus pool of $5,825,000, Pittsburgh can boldly bet down money.
The player who received the most contract money 바카라 as a Korean player was Kim Byung-hyun in 1999, who received $2.25 million when he signed with the Arizona Diamonds. In the late 2000s, there were many cases in which amateur players signed contracts with major league clubs for less than $1 million and returned to the domestic stage after being frustrated.
Still, most of the most recent domestic prospects who entered the major leagues received contracts of more than 1 million dollars. Park Hyo-joon (Atlanta), who signed a contract with the New York Yankees in 2014, received $1.16 million, Kwon Kwang-min (Hanwha), who signed a contract with the Chicago Cubs in 2015, received $1.2 million, and Bae Ji-hwan, who signed a contract with Pittsburgh in 2018, received $1.25 million. The most recent pitcher to receive a contract of more than $1 million is Kim Jin-young (retired), who signed with the Chicago Cubs in 2010, and received $1.2 million.
Coincidentally, the team that recently paid the most signing money to a Korean player was also Pittsburgh, which recruited Bae Ji-hwan. Can Shim Jun-seok, who has been evaluated as a super high school level pitcher, advance to the major leagues with a huge down payment that matches his potential?
